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From: Brianhaiti@aol.com<br><br>
</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=2>May 3, 2005<br>
</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3><b>Yvon Neptune On Verge of
Death From Hunger Strike: Urge The Interim Government's International
Patrons to Stop the Persecution <br><br>
</b></font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=2>Thank you to everyone who
responded to last week's alert to support labor leaders Ginette Apollon
and Paul Loulou Chéry. Hundreds of people signed onto the petition,
and neither activist has been harassed by police since.<br><br>
It is hard to have a more direct link to life and death than this week's
alert. Political prisoner Yvon Neptune is on day 17 of a hunger
strike (started April 17), and declining fast. Although he started
to drink water over the weekend, Neptune is not eating, is emaciated and
weak, and his internal organs are failing. He will not end
the strike until the Interim Government of Haiti (IGH) drops the charges
against him. Although the IGH has not brought Neptune before a
judge in the 10 months of his incarceration, it refuses to drop the
charges, preferring to send Neptune into involuntary exile, which he
refuses.<br><br>
Yvon Neptune will die within days unless he is freed, and the IGH will
not willingly free him. It has resisted calls, for months, from UN
Secretary-General Kofi Annan, from the UN Security Council, from the
CARICOM countries, human rights groups, religious leaders and ordinary
citizens throughout the world, to either let Neptune go to trial or let
him go free. Faced with Neptune's imminent death, the IGH issued
two press releases on Sunday, one asking the population to "set
aside its passions," the other confirming that Mr. Neptune "is
and will remain available to the justice system for the pursuit of the
investigationŠ." He has been available to the system for 10
months, during which he has survived assassination attempts, a kidnapping
and a prison massacre, but has not been brought before a judge.<br><br>
The IGH is in a position to persecute Neptune because wealthy
governments, especially the U.S., France and Canada, put it there and
continue to prop it up. We must insist that those governments use
their leverage to free Yvon Neptune. They all will have Neptune's
blood on their hands- the U.S. did call for Neptune's trial or release in
July and December, but it continues to be the IGH's principal patron,
even arming its brutal police force despite an arms embargo. Canada
officially denies there are any political prisoners in Haiti, and has
given over $100,000 to NCHR-Haiti, an organization close to the IGH that
has spearheaded Neptune's persecution (causing its parent organization to
disown it). France provides generous financial and
diplomatic support to the regime.<br><br>
If the U.S., France and Canada conditioned their continued support on the
IGH obeying the Constitution and releasing Neptune, he would be released
immediately. <b>Please help save a life by emailing, calling or faxing
the embassies of those countries in Haiti, to let them know two simple
things: 1) you care about Yvon Neptune's life, and 2) you will hold those
governments responsible as accomplices in his death.</b> <br><br>
A sample letter and contact information is below, more information on
Yvon Neptune and his legal status, as well as links to other campaigns
supporting his release are available at
<a href="http://www.ijdh.org/" eudora="autourl">www.ijdh.org</a>.<br><br>
Brian Concannon Jr.<br>
Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti<br>
______________________<br>
<b>Sample Letter<br><br>
</b>Dear Mr. Ambassador:<br><br>
I am writing to urge you to act immediately to effect the release of
political prisoner Yvon Neptune. As you know, Mr. Neptune has been
held illegally without a hearing for over ten months, when Haiti's
Constitution prohibits such detention for more than 48 hours. The
Interim Government of Haiti's (IGH) claim that it is leaving the case up
to a justice system that has so far done nothing but persecute him is
meritless.<br><br>
If Mr. Neptune dies, responsibility for his death will extend beyond the
IGH to the international patrons that enabled this persecution, including
your government. Your government helped install the IGH and has
continued to provide financial and diplomatic support, despite the fact
that human rights groups, the UN and many governments admit that
Neptune's detention is illegal and/or constitutes political persecution.
<br><br>
Your country can avoid Mr. Neptune's death, and complicity in this death,
by announcing that it will withhold all support from the IGH unless it
complies with the Haitian Constitution and international human rights
standards by immediately freeing Yvon Neptune. Please act
now.<br><br>
Sincerely,<br>
__________________________________________________<br>
<b>Contact Information</b>:<br><br>
<b>U.S. Ambassador to Haiti, James B. Foley<br>
</b>United States Embassy<br>
Port-au-Prince, Haiti<br><br>
Telephones: 011-509-223-4711, or 222-0200 or 0354<br>
Fax: 011-509-223-1641 or 9038 <br>
Email to Dana Banks, Human Rights Officer: BanksD@state.gov<br>
___________<br>
<b>Canadian Ambassador to Haiti, Claude Boucher<br>
</b>Embassy of Canada<br>
Port-au-Prince, Haiti<br><br>
Telephone: (509) 249-9000<br>
Fax: (509) 249-9920<br>
Email: prnce@international.gc.ca<br><br>
<b>Ambassador of France in Haiti, M. Yves GAUDEUL<br>
</b>Embassy of France<br>
51 place des Héros de l'Indépendance - BP 312<br>
Port-au-Prince, Haiti<br>
Telephone: (509) 222-0952<br>
Fax : (509) 223 5675<br><br>
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<font size=3 color="#FF0000">The Freedom Archives<br>
522 Valencia Street<br>
San Francisco, CA 94110<br>
(415) 863-9977<br>
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